Explain the role of acompiler in a programming language. What type of errors it generally reports?

A part of the compiler’s job is to analyze the program code for “correctness”. If the meaning of a program is correct, then a compiler cannot detect errors, but a compilercan certainly detect errors in the form of a program. A compiler generally reports following types of errors:

1.  Syntax Errors: Occurs when rules of a programming language are violated.

2.  Semantics Errors: Occurs when program statements are not meaningful.

3.  Type Errors: Occurs when data/value of unexpected type is passed or input.

4.  Run-time Errors: Occurs during the execution of a program.

5.  Logical Errors: Causes a program to produce incorrect output.

A compiler reports an error byflashing an error message. An error message contains a line number and a brief description of the error.

The second thing, a compiler does is, it translates the corrected program text into object or assembly instruction text understood by the computer. A compiler can report only the syntax errors, semantics errors, and type errors. Run-time errors become know at run-time and logical errors can be detected by tracing the program line by line and checking its output.